honeymooning

It's cold and rainy here in San Francisco (did you hear it might snow here on Saturday!? Yes, indeedy!) so what am I doing to keep myself warm and cozy? Daydreaming about our honeymoon. Mmmmm, I can almost feel the warm, ocean breeze on my face. Hello, Santorini...

That's right, we're heading to Greece! We'll start off in Athens, then travel to a few of the Greek Isles (Santorini and Crete for sure), and finally we'll be hopping over to Istanbul. It's going to be the perfect mixture of relaxation and adventure and I CANNOT WAIT!!!!

Agh! Just look at these beaches! Incredible. 

Any honeymoon suggestions? We're looking for places to stay and things to do in Greece and Instanbul, so let us know if there's anything that we must see/do!

xo,
zar

let's all stop for a minute...

and drool over this styled shoot. shall we?

photos courtesy of 100 layer cake

These pics were featured recently in Southern Wedding Magazine (which is my new go-to source for inspiration. They've got fun, rustic, vintage, laid back charm down to a science) and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since. Isn't this shoot beyond romantic? The styling, the colors, the decor. Seriously drooling.

I'm also really drawn to her bouquet. In fact, I'm sending it to our florist to give her an idea of what I'm looking for (woo, more planning progress!) I love the peach garden roses, the berries and those little brown ball thing-a-ma-bobs. Does anyone know what those are called?

xo,
zar

we have a florist!

Yay for checking something off of the scary long list of things left to do! We have a florist!

Meet Studio Choo and all of their loveliness:

photos above courtesy of studio choo

photo courtesy of style me pretty

Aren't they super talented? We're pretty psyched that they're doing our flowers. Now we just have to find inspiration photos to send them so that they can give us a price quote. I guess that means it's time to figure out exactly what we want. Eeek. 

xoxo,
zar

wedding planner?

As I'm sure most of you have guessed by the lack of blog posts in the last three weeks, I've been insanely busy. Please don't laugh when I say this (because believe me I feel silly even thinking it) but starting a business is way more work/stress than I expected! I knew it was going to be hard, but I didn't expect to be working 16+ hour days for 6 weeks straight without a day off. And the crazy thing is that most of the time, zpao is right there with me. He's my right hand man. Did I mention he's pretty much the smartest/most patient/giving/wonderful person ever? Because he is. I wouldn't have pictures, a website, or half of my inventory without him. Oh and then there's my sanity. I'm pretty sure he's to thank for that as well.

So if we're both working 16+ hour days, who is planning this wedding of ours? Well, no one at the moment. We have literally accomplished nothing (unless you consider ruling out some vendors accomplishing something) in terms of wedding planning since before Christmas. Zpao keeps saying, "don't worry, everything will get figured out" but all I can think is "By whom? Who exactly is figuring this stuff out?! Because I sure as heck don't have the time...and neither do you!"

With only seven months to go before the big day we've got to start making some major decisions like choosing:

• an officiant
• a florist
• a DJ
• a string trio 
• honeymoon details
• weekend event locations (friday night welcome drinks/sunday brunch)
• invitations
• groom's attire
• wedding party attire
• desserts
• alcohol
• and a bunch other small but super important details like event insurance, a get-away car, a marriage license

 With all of this left to do and wedding season right around the corner (which hopefully means lots and lots of business for me but even less time for wedding planning!) I'm thinking a wedding coordinator/designer might be necessary. I wanted to do this all on my own, but I'm starting to see that that might be impossible. The good news is, I have made some great connections within the wedding industry so finding a phenomenal wedding planner shouldn't be difficult. There's just the budget side of things. I really don't want to spend our honeymoon money on a coordinator! So as of right now, we're going to continue trying to plan this on our own (I have a meeting with a florist today!) but if another month or two goes by and nothing gets accomplished we might have to call in a professional. The last thing I want is for it to be August and we have nothing finalized!

What do you guys think? Is considering a wedding coordinator and designer a good idea or is a waste of money?

xo,
zar